Captain America – The First Avenger is actually the last Avenger to be introduced in Marvel’s superhero super-group “The Avengers.” The others being Iron Man, Hulk and Thor and I can confidently say that this film is my favourite of the bunch.
Similar to X-Men: First Class, Captain America is a period superhero film. It is set in 1942 during World War II as the Nazis are doing their rounds in Europe. In response, the American government sets up a secret military operation commanded by Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) charged with creating a breed of super-soldiers tasked to bring down Hitler. The brains behind the operation is Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) a German scientist who has developed a formula which enhances a person’s physical attributes by a great degree.
Enter Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) a scrawny, deemed too small & unhealthy to join the regular army, kid from Brooklyn. He is discovered by Erskine who sees in him qualities beyond the physical and chooses him for the program albeit with some doubts from Phillips. Rogers does get support from British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) who does a little bit more in the film than just a mandatory love interest.
Meanwhile in Europe, a Nazi group HYDRA led by Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his alter ego Red Skull, have uncovered an ancient mysterious power which they plan on using for world domination. Faced with this new challenge Captain America is called upon, though not at first, to bring down HYDRA and, of course, save the world.
Captain America works very well as a superhero film, despite a formulaic plot, mainly because of its lead. Chris Evans, in the best performance of the film, manages to capture the ethos of his character perfectly . You clearly get from him the reasons he chooses to fight and also that his powers are not a burden like some other superheroes. Thus you are taken into the story and by the end the film has a bigger emotional impact.
The special effects are also impressive especially the pre-buff Evans. The effect is pulled off perfectly and he looks completely convincing as a 40something kg weakling. Red Skull is also impressive, though to me he seemed more menacing before his reveal. One thing I will say is that the 3D is totally pointless and doesn’t add anything to the film except making it darker.
One criticism I have of the film is its shaky third-act. The film has a strong beginning and middle but a weak, though satisfying, ending. During the final act they don’t really explain deeper the villains intents and the situation the hero finds himself in. Had they done this, the finale would have had all the more impact.
Something else that didn’t live up to expectations was the action. Superhero films, I feel, are not like regular action films. They usually have characters with extra ordinary abilities and as such there is always an expectation of extraordinary action. This had been executed well in previous superhero films like X2 and exceptionally in Spiderman 2. The action sequences in Captain America are entertaining but they never really go to that next level of WOW!.
Overall Captain America is an enjoyable satisfying film. It had the obligatory Avengers tie-in but this time it didn’t feel forced and actually got me excited to see Joss Whedon’s film coming out in 2012.